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Rest in peace to the fallen and my heart goes out to the friends and family of both men. Very tragic that these guys were going home when this happened. Michael was on his way to getting married this Valentines day.

A VBIED is what killed the two men, and no word on the condition of everyone else that was wounded. –Matt

Michael Hughes.

Paul Goins.

Two Killed in Kabul, Afghanistan
February 10, 2014
On February 10, 2014, two DynCorp International personnel working on the Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan (CSTC-A) program were tragically killed in an explosion near Kabul, Afghanistan.Paul Goins, 62, of Crosby, Texas, joined DI in February 2013. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Mr. Goins had more than 35 years of experience in the correctional and compliance fields, working with the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and in the private sector. His professional contributions were made at home in the United States, and abroad in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he worked to share his knowledge with developing countries.Michael Hughes, 38, of Washington, Montana and Nevada, joined the DI team in Afghanistan in November 2010. Having worked for several years with the Department of Corrections in Washington State, Mr. Hughes’ areas of expertise included training, emergency management, incident command, as well as hostage and crisis negotiations.
DynCorp International chairman and chief executive officer Steve Gaffney commented, “The world lost two heroes in this attack. They volunteered to travel to places they had never been, to help people they had never met. I ask that you please keep them, along with their families, loved ones, and colleagues who continue to support the mission, in your thoughts and prayers.”

For those looking for the source of this data, here is a link to the DASD Program Support that puts these reports together every quarter. They have been very useful and I have put everyone of them into my Scribd if you would like to reference and check this stuff out.

William over at Danger Zone Jobs has been tracking this data over the years and he has put together some excellent graphics showing exactly what the trends are over the last seven quarters. Here are some samples below and there are more at his post.

Pretty interesting, and you can visually see the heavy use of contractors in Afghanistan, even as the war winds down. Probably the most interesting graph is the use of American contractors in Afghanistan.

One of the Americans killed alongside Ambassador Christopher Stevens in an attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya Tuesday told ABC News before his death that he was working with the State Department on an intelligence mission to round up dangerous weapons in the war-torn nation. In an interview with ABC News last month, Glen Doherty, a 42-year-old former Navy SEAL who worked as a contractor with the State Department, said he personally went into the field to track down so-called MANPADS, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, and destroy them. After the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, the State Department launched a mission to round up thousands of MANPADS that may have been looted from military installations across the country. U.S. officials previously told ABC News they were concerned the MANPADS could fall into the hands of terrorists, creating a threat to commercial airliners.

Rest in peace to the fallen. These men fought with every measure of their lives and paid the ultimate sacrifice. They were also contractors, tasked with hunting down MANPADS in Libya, which is of vital national interest…and world wide interest.

Also, my condolences go to Brandon and SOFREP for losing a friend and fellow SOFREP team member. He was the ‘resident Naval Special Warfare’ editor there. Go to this link to read more.

Two ex-SEALs from SD killed in Libya
By Debbi Baker, Gretel C. Kovach, Nathan Max
September 13, 2012?
Two of the four Americans killed Tuesday after an attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya were former Navy SEALs from San Diego County.
Glen Doherty, 42, of Encinitas, and Tyrone Woods, 41, of Imperial Beach, were working at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi as security and intelligence contractors. Also killed were the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and information officer Sean Smith. Three others were wounded.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that Doherty and Woods “died helping protect their colleagues.
“Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest gratitude are with their families and friends. Our embassies could not carry on our critical work around the world without the service and sacrifice of brave people like Tyrone and Glen,” she said in a statement.
The two former SEALs settled in San Diego County after initial training in Coronado, where all the elite naval special operators must pass a grueling 21-week test of mental and physical endurance.
Doherty, who grew up in the Boston suburb of Winchester, Mass., was a gregarious outdoorsman and high-octane adventurer, a self-proclaimed “high priest” of “The Cult of Recreationalism,” friends and family said.
The pilot, former ski instructor, surfer and trainer at the CrossFit/SEALFIT gym in Encinitas served nine years as a SEAL before getting out in 2005.

Ok ladies and gentlemen, I figured this would be a good resource for anyone interested. What I have done is to take every company that is a member of SAMI, and list them with their career sections.

The reason why I wanted to do this, is to direct applicants towards companies that actually care enough to sign on to a code of conduct and standard. The list below is a very interesting mix of international companies, and you will recognize a couple from my last survey. The cool thing with this list, is these are actual maritime security companies or security companies, that have been approved by SAMI. This is also a big hint to clients of these companies, that you should direct your complaints to SAMI, to ensure quality is enforced.

The other cool thing about these companies, is that if you do gain employment with them, then you can direct your complaints to SAMI and demand that your company act in accordance to the codes and standards, or they get punished. SAMI is trying to promote itself as a group that can hold it’s members to a standard, and I thoroughly support this concept. I just hope they have the courage to do so.

Either way, I plan on making this a page up top so it is easy to get to. I can also modify, edit, and add more members up there. If you are the CEO or employee of one of the mentioned companies, and there is something incorrect or you would like to add something, just contact me or make a note in the comments section. You can do that here on this post, or on the page itself.

For those companies that are not SAMI members, let me know and I will put you down in the categories section ‘Private Naval Companies’ below, if you are not there already. Although I do reserve the right to ‘not include’ certain companies in either sections. I will probably be removing SAMI companies, and others as time goes by, just because if the word get’s out that you do not take care of your people, or that you have provided poor and reckless service to clients, then your company will not get promoted on this blog. –Matt

The SAMI List

Aspida (Greece)
www.aspida.org
Aspida is constantly looking for high caliber security professionals for deployment as part of our onboard security teams.
The ideal applicants should have a career in the special forces, be fluent in English and have a sincere love for ships and the sea.
If you are interested in a career at a company where skills, achievements and loyalty are highly valued and professional advancement is defined by meritocracy please send us your CV in English along with army discharge papers and training certificates to hr@aspida.org
—————————————————————
Atlas Inc. (UK)
www.atlasinc.co.uk
We require the minimum following qualifications before an applicant is considered by ATLAS. Military service discharge papers checked (for correct Military discharge).
ISPS Ships Security Officer Qualification.
STCW95 (Seafarers Training, Certification and Watchkeepers code 4 Part module, Fire Fighting, Elementry First Aid, Sea Survival Safety, Personal Safety and Social Responsibility.
ENG1 Medical qualified.
CV, reference check and interview.
info@atlasinc.co.uk

The other day I was thinking, why aren’t contractors represented at American Forces Network? There are thousands of us overseas, and we have been a part of the war effort for years now. So where is the acknowledgement of our existence at AFN?

I say this, because every contractor that has ever been to Iraq or Afghanistan, has been exposed to AFN. We watch all the DoD commercials about safety or suicide prevention or wearing reflector belts on bases, yet there is nothing about contractors. I think the only commercial I have ever seen dealing with contractors, is a hotline that troops can call if they see contractors ripping off the government. I wonder if there are any commercials that give information on how to turn in troops who are ripping off the DoD? Or are contractors the only ones that can do harm?

Furthermore, you watch all these shows like the Pentagon Channel or the Marines or Army Show, and it is great to see news about what they are doing in the war, but what about the thousands of contractors performing important and essential missions as well? How about the guys training Afghan Army or Border Patrol folks? Isn’t that a crucial element to the strategy in Afghanistan, yet the contractor side of this is completely ignored?

How about the munitions clearance programs, or the interpreters, or the dining facility folks? Where’s the Christmas messages from the various company management out there? Or the thanks from Generals or Congressmen for the work we have done? I mean you guys contracted our services, are you not thankful for that service?

I guess my point is, is that we continue to be treated as if we do not exist, or that we really don’t matter in this war. The reality is that we do matter and we do have a great impact on this war. And for the DoD to not at least use AFN to communicate with their contractor force, is just stupid.

They could be developing public service messages that communicate directly to contractors. The DoD can also target contractors with their resiliency messages, to prevent any future Fitzsimmons type incidents. There is so much that needs to be said and communicated to my group, yet there is silence. If in fact the DoD wants to make contracting work in this war, they need to connect with us. To not take advantage of this media tool to create a unity of effort in this war, is yet again, a strategic mistake.

The irony of it all, is that AFN uses civilians and contractors in the production of their shows. But shhhhh, don’t tell anyone. lol –Matt